MMI Holdings says Nicolaas Kruger to step down as CEO

Nicolaas Kruger would step down as CEO from mid February according to MMI Holdings.

Financial services company MMI Holdings said on Tuesday Nicolaas Kruger would step down as CEO from mid-February after 26 years with the group.

In a statement, the company said Kruger, who oversaw the successful merger between Momentum, of which he was CEO, and Metropolitan to create MMI Holdings in 2010, had made himself available to serve on some subsidiary boards of the group.

At the time of the merger, MMI Holdings was the third largest insurance on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

MMI Holdings said Hillie Meyer, who was CEO of Momentum from 1996 to 2005, would join the group as CEO on a three-year contract.

The company acknowledged that its performance had not met expectations recently, but said it was implementing remedial actions, including significantly scaling down its geographic footprint in Africa and the UK, to focus on building its core businesses in South Africa.

“The group is now also focusing on a narrower set of new initiatives such as the African Bank JV and the Aditya Birla JV,” it said.